I am 51 years old, I was diagnosed with Bi-polar disorder when I was 24/25 yrs
old. For over half my life I have been taking Lithium 800 mg. I have
an underactive thyroid, and also have psoriasis which also affects my
fingernails and toenails, this being more problematical over the last 5 years I
was thin before I started the Lithium but my weight has gained and I am
overweight, again more so over the past 5 years. I have been hospitalised 4
times for mania and once for deep depression. And spent most of my life in a fog
of despair trying hard to fit into a 'normal' world. I presently take Cipramil
20mg along with my Lithium. I find I get tired easily, severely lack confidence,
and am often depressed and anxious about the future. I read recently that long
term Lithium use can cause brain damage! is this true? if so, is it reversible,
and what other treatments could I use? I would appreciate your reply. Thank
you,
MarionDear Marion --

Well now, there are quite a few
issues in here. Ideally, it would be nice to take on the "fog of despair". That
sounds awful. It is unfortunately beyond what I can address here; so I'll take
the easier one: does lithium cause brain damage?

For starters, this is probably a pretty good example of the dangers of the
Internet as a source of information. When you see somebody make an assertion
like that, you will want to ask "where's the evidence?" If you can go back and
actually find that particular statement, I would be interested in knowing where
you found it, if you could send me the reference (an Internet address, for
example). You can send it to me here at Bipolar World, because I would write a
little essay about it.

The short version of that essay: wrong. I could almost stop there. But that
would be no better than what you already read -- where is the evidence? In fact,
the evidence for what long-term lithium does to the brain is actually quite the
opposite. Or to be more precise, there is evidence that long-term lithium has a
very beneficial effect on the brain, at least in people who have bipolar
disorder. It can keep the brand from shrinking, at least to some degree, and in
fact can help the brain grow back in some of the regions that are shrinking in
people who have severe mood problems. The evidence for this is detailed on page
on my website called "can
the shrinkage be reversed?" (This is mini-chapter 11; you might want to
start with mini
-Chapter 6 to appreciate the story).

It is true that getting too high a lithium level can cause damage to your brain.
But I am not aware of any evidence that therapeutic levels of lithium can do
this, or anything like it. Again, I think the evidence is to the contrary, as
noted above.